Lentils for Nutritious, Sustainable, and Resilient Food Systems in southern Africa…the journey begins in Malawi

H. A. Pswarayi

University of Nottingham

The Birth of an Idea…the MAPS project

  • From MAPS, Other studies:
  • Southern Africa’s Food Systems deficient in protein, micro-nutrients.
    • Malawi, South Africa, Zimbabwe, Zambia, etc
  • MAPS simulation:
    • lentils, most efficient in supplying these nutrients.

Why Regional Food Systems are Failing…interlocking, cross-disciplinary challenges

  • Government policies
  • Cropping practices
  • Climate change

Government Policies

  • Policies skewing crops produced:
    • establishment of grain marketing boards for maize
    • reinforced by maize production packages
    • promotion of tobacco to earn foreign currency
    • through numerous contracting companies offering tobacco crop packages

Cropping Practices…..poor soil husbandry

  • most soils in region have low pH, acidic:
    • due to continuous fertilizer use,
    • without promoting liming to ameliorate the problem,
  • Hence:
    • prevalence of low crop yields,
    • and inadequate food production,
    • due to reduced fertilizer efficiency, and Al toxicity.

Lack of Rotations in Cropping Systems

  • for millennia, legume-cereal rotations have boosted soil fertility, particularly for resource poor farmers
  • yet, not widely practiced by the resource poor in southern Africa
    • partly due to govt policies mentioned above,
    • that drive maize and tobacco production
    • and lack of viable alternative cash crops

Climate change…

  • Southern Africa, a hot spot of climate change
    • due to its geographical location.
  • Hence:
    • frequent erratic rains, low rainfall, droughts
    • frequent heat waves,
    • frequent crop failures…hunger…poverty,
    • widespread nutrient deficiencies.

A Pulse Solution…lentils, key to complex challenges

  • a novel crop in southern Africa
  • a crop of multiple attributes

Lentil Attribute…Lentils improve human health

  • lentils are nutritious:
    • rich in protein,
    • rich in complex carbohydrates,
    • rich in minerals: e.g., K, Mg, Fe, Se, folate, Ca, P, Zn
    • richest in fiber, which is good for digestion and regulating insulin levels

Lentil Attribute…Lentils improve soil health

  • lentils encourage good soil husbandry
    • farmers have to add lime to ameliorate soil acidity,
    • because lentils are very sensitive to acidic soils

Acidic Soils (pH 3.6)…severe stunting

Acidic Soils (pH 3.6)…susceptible to drought

Lentil Attribute…Lentils are water efficient

  • lentil crops require minimal rainfall
    • about 300 - 500 mm, annually
    • maize requires about double this
  • hence, lentils better adapt to short rainfall seasons due to climate change
  • some lentil varieties are drought and heat tolerant
    • adapt well to the climate change induced frequent droughts

Lentil Attribute…Lentils reduce domestic energy consumption

  • lentils cook in 10-30 minutes,
    • which saves energy, reducing deforestation,
  • Firewood, a primary source of domestic energy in southern Africa
    • due to low generation capacity of electricity
    • and a large, and poor rural population
  • Hence, the widespread deforestation, landscape degradation, soil erosion, and siltation of water systems and reservoirs in the region

Lentil Attribute…Lentils improve animal health

  • lentil straw is better than cereal straw
    • because is more palatable,
    • because is higher in digestibility,
    • and higher in nutrients: protein, Ca, and P
  • there are forage lentil lines that produce high biomass yields

Lentil Attributes…Lentils, a profitable cash crop

  • Lentils have a billion pound (£) international market
    • major consumers in south Asia
    • where lentils are integral to daily diets
  • Canada, the world’s largest producer, exporter
    • produced mainly by large prairie farmers
  • India, the world’s largest importer, consumer, and second largest producer
    • produced mainly by small holder farmers

Introducing lentils in Southern Africa…a cross-disciplinary approach

A Food Systems Approach…

  • Cross-disciplinary studies:
    • production, consumption, marketing, storage.
  • Production:
    • develop varieties, learn agronomy
  • Consumption:
    • innovate lentil dishes for local palates
  • Marketing:
    • develop local and international markets
  • Storage: ensuring product quality

The Multiple Disciplines…

  • Plant breeders, agronomists, soil scientists,
  • nutritionists, public health, extensionists,
  • Post-harvest scientists, plant protection,
  • Sociologists, Statisticians, agricultural engineers,
  • Economists, marketing, Trade,
  • Farmers, households, NGOs, policy makers.

Project status…the journey begins in Malawi

  • trials in 3 environments,
  • that differ in altitude and rainfall regimes.
    • identifying future breeding materials,
    • identifying suitable environments,
    • and learning lentil agronomy

Identifying future breeding materials

  • Evaluating 570 accessions from ICARDA, on 3 sites:
  • Traits of interest:
    • drought tolerance
    • heat resistance
    • high yield
    • disease and pest resistance
    • early maturity

Trials…planting

Trials…germination

Trials…happy lentils

Trials…happy lentils

Trials…happy lentils

Trials…we have seed for the future!

Engaging Stakeholders…our partners

  • First stakeholders meeting held in February, 2024:
  • with government research scientists, and others:
    • plant breeders, soil scientists, agronomists
    • trade officials, nutritionists
  • and academia:
    • plant breeders, agronomists, nutritionists
  • They are the future owners of the project

Planning with Stakeholders

Stakholders’ Workshop…very first!

The Stakholders

The Future…

  • Immediate:
    • evaluating accessions, multiplying breeding lines and agronomy studies
  • Medium:
    • innovating and promoting lentil dishes
    • lentil breeding, promotion, agronomy studies
  • Long term:
    • promoting lentils into the sub region
    • that is whole of southern Africa

A Long journey…of a thousand partners, publications

  • Zikomo kwambili, Terima kasih
  • Siyabonga, Asante
  • Mazviita, Grazie, Obrigado
  • Twatotela, Tak, Xiexie
  • Thank you, Dhanyavaad
  • Gracias, Danke, Спасибо
  • Diolch, Merci, Arigato